This invention relates to computer systems and methods which involve data storage and memory media organized into a redundant array of independent disks (RAID). More particularly, the present invention relates to a new and improved method and apparatus for directly booting or establishing functionality of the computer operating system (OS) with a RAID storage media volume as the primary OS memory, rather than a single disk or storage device, without requiring the use of a dedicated RAID controller. As a result of the RAID volume being the primary OS memory, system performance is substantially enhanced by the OS having the capability to directly send and receive large numbers of input output operations (I/Os) to the RAID volume without encountering the delay and complexity of converting single memory device I/Os into RAID I/Os. Greater reliability is also achieved by storing the OS on the RAID volume.
One type of data storage and memory media which is well known and used in many modern computer systems is a redundant array of independent disks (RAID). RAID media use a plurality of separate disk drives which are connected in a group or array, rather than a single disk drive or storage media. RAID systems offer numerous advantages, particularly in high-performance computer systems which require high data throughput performance and high reliability against the accidental loss of data.
To achieve higher data throughput, the RAID volume is formed by distributing or striping the data across a number of the RAID disk drives to form a data volume. A data volume is the collection of physical storage spaces or capacity which is reserved on a multiplicity of the RAID disk drives in which a single integral collection of data is distributed. This type of RAID volume is referred to as xe2x80x9cRAID 0.xe2x80x9d By distributing the data volume throughout a number of disk drives in the array, input/output operations (I/Os) to multiple disk drives can be performed approximately simultaneously. The time to perform I/Os constitutes a substantial restriction in computer performance, so by performing the I/Os simultaneously on all of the disk drives, the time consumed for the I/Os to access and retrieve the data is substantially reduced. The performance of the computer system is substantially increased in terms of throughput of information.
Reliability against accidental data failures is achieved in a type of RAID media known as xe2x80x9cRAID 1.xe2x80x9d Any disk drive is susceptible to failure and a possible loss of the data and information recorded on it. However, in a RAID 1 configuration, identical copies of the same data and information are recorded on different disk drives. The multiple disk drives which receive the identical copies of the data are referred to as xe2x80x9cmirrored.xe2x80x9d The failure of one of the mirrored disks does not prevent access to the data because the other mirrored disk drive is probably functional and available for I/Os without any significant loss of performance or downtime in computer functionality.
RAID media may also make use of combinations of both RAID 0 and RAID 1 to achieve both high-performance and redundancy. Such combinations are known as xe2x80x9cRAID 0+1,xe2x80x9d xe2x80x9cRAID 1+0xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cRAID 10.xe2x80x9d Moreover, parity codes which allow the reconstruction of lost data are also typically used in RAID media as a further assurance against accidental destruction of data resulting from causes not involving the failure of disk drives. Because of both performance enhancements and gains in reliability against the unintended loss of data, RAID media offer substantial improvements in computer systems.
Despite the advantages of RAID storage media compared to single storage media, most computer software operating systems (OSs) have been written to interact with a single storage media as the primary OS memory media. This fact is primarily a historical artifact of the earlier and more primitive OS architectures which were originally developed for earlier versions of personal computers. However, because of the large number of personal computer systems in use, because contemporary personal computers offer great computing capacity for relatively low cost, and because contemporary personal computers are being used more predominantly in high-capacity business computing applications, attempting to change the OS from the basic original single storage media architecture would cause enormous problems of backward compatibility for use with earlier versions of personal computers. Indeed, none of the contemporary personal computers are believed to offer the capability of the OS interacting directly with a RAID media as the primary OS memory.
Instead, to use RAID media with contemporary computers, it has been necessary to interpose RAID controllers between the RAID media and the computer system to perform RAID algorithms between the conventional, single storage media I/Os generated by the conventional OS and the multiple different I/Os which are involved in communicating with the multiple disk drives of the RAID storage media. Such RAID controllers are dedicated, single purpose devices whose sole function is to perform these RAID algorithms. In addition, certain types of hardware adapters have been used as RAID controllers by programming the hardware adapters to perform the RAID algorithms. Because of the similarity in dedicated, sole purpose functionality, both the dedicated RAID controllers and the hardware adapters which have been programmed to perform only the RAID algorithms are referred to herein as RAID controllers.
RAID controllers hide the physical properties of the RAID volume from the OS. The OS performs I/O instructions as though a single memory media or disk drive was the mass storage element for the computer system. The RAID controller prevents the OS from directly interacting with the physical properties of the RAID volume. While RAID controllers are effective, they add complexity and cost to a high-performance computer system. The complexity arises because the RAID volume I/O processing is off-loaded from the OS to the RAID controller, and because of the conversion required between I/Os generated by a conventional, single storage media OS and the I/Os delivered to and received from the RAID storage media. The conversions create additional possibilities for malfunction, failure and diminished performance of the computer system. The cost of a dedicated RAID controller or a RAID hardware adapter increases the cost of the computer system, because the cost of these items is generally considerably higher than the cost of more generic components use for a variety of different purposes in a computer system.
In response to the cost and complexity of RAID controllers, RAID emulation software programs have been written which directly interact with the conventional, single storage media I/Os generated by the OS and convert those instructions into I/Os suitable for interaction with the RAID volume. Such RAID emulation software programs are effective, but they must rely on the operation of the conventional single storage media OS as a basis for their own functionality in implementing the RAID algorithms. The conventional single storage media OS must be booted and fully operative before the RAID emulation program can be loaded and used.
These previous RAID controller and emulation techniques have made it costly, complex, impossible or difficult to distribute the OS on the RAID volume and to boot the OS from the RAID volume. Consequently, the benefits of redundancy and reliability against accidental data loss offered by RAID storage systems has not generally been available to the OS. Furthermore, in order to use the previous RAID controllers or RAID emulation software programs, it was necessary to have the conventional OS operating, and operation of the conventional OS meant that a single storage media was the primary OS memory. Consequently, the operation of the OS with its primary OS memory as a single storage media could not be interrupted to replace the primary OS memory with a RAID volume. It was impossible to directly boot an OS using a RAID volume as the primary OS storage media without using a hardware-based RAID subsystem, because the conventional OS had to be running in order to load such software, but once the conventional single storage media OS was loaded and operative, it was impossible to replace its single storage media OS functionality. This dilemma has therefore previously resulted in no known OS for a contemporary personal computer which boots from and utilizes a RAID volume as the primary OS memory.
These and other background considerations have led to and resulted in the present invention.
One feature of the present invention is the ability to directly load and utilize a RAID volume as the primary operating system (OS) media in a computer system not having a dedicated RAID controller. This aspect of the invention comes about as a result of accessing and using RAID algorithmic instructions obtained from an option ROM memory of an adapter interface (preferably a non-RAID specific adapter interface, such as a small computer standard interface (SCSI) adapter) connected to the computer system, during an initial power up stage of the computer system. The RAID algorithmic instructions read from the option ROM memory bootstrap or boot additional RAID algorithmic instructions read from the RAID storage media to make the RAID volume the primary OS storage media. As a result, the performance of the computer system is greatly enhanced by the ability of the OS to issue and receive multiple input/output operations (I/Os) directly with respect to the RAID volume without the necessity for conversion of single storage media I/Os into RAID I/Os by a RAID controller.
Another feature of the invention relates to the capability of directly loading or booting a RAID-media-based OS which has previously been recorded on and distributed over the disk drives or storage media of a RAID volume, without first booting or loading the OS to recognize a single storage media as the primary OS storage media. This aspect of the invention allows the RAID-based OS to be distributed over the RAID storage media in a high-performance computer system. As a result, the computer system achieves relatively high reliability against accidental failure or data loss of the OS.
In accordance with these features, one aspect of the present invention relates to a method of booting an operating system (OS) recorded in a RAID storage media in a computer system. A computer system has a processor, a nonvolatile system memory and an interface adapter connected to a bus. The interface adapter includes a nonvolatile option ROM memory and his preferably a non-RAID specific adapter such as a SCSI adapter. The interface adapter is connected to the RAID storage media, preferably by an adapter bus. The nonvolatile system memory stores basic input output system (BIOS) instructions including a BIOS bus scan or hardware detect instruction set and a BIOS input output (I/O) instruction set. The method involves recording RAID I/O algorithmic instructions in the option ROM memory, executing the BIOS hardware detect instruction set to read the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions recorded in the option ROM memory, executing the BIOS I/O instruction set utilizing the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions to read the OS from the RAID storage media. In this manner, the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions are directly loaded for use in subsequent OS I/O operations, without the need for RAID controllers. Moreover, the RAID storage media becomes the primary OS storage media, and the OS may be loaded from the RAID storage media as a part of the boot process.
Other preferable aspects of the present invention involve recording the OS on a plurality of independent storage devices which are configured in a RAID 1, RAID 0 or a RAID 10 storage media configuration. By recording the OS on multiple disks of a RAID storage media configuration, it is possible to take advantage of the redundancy and higher I/O bandwidth for purposes of data reliability and speed of booting for the OS. In addition, it is possible to replace or supersede the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions with replacement RAID driver I/O algorithmic instructions which are recorded in the RAID storage media as a part of booting the OS and thereafter using the replacement RAID driver I/O algorithmic instructions in executing OS I/O operations. Such replacement RAID driver I/O algorithmic instructions may include more extensive RAID error handling instructions than the initial RAID I/O algorithmic instructions recorded in the option ROM memory. Preferably and in addition to the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions, the option ROM memory also includes a BIOS I/O service instruction set which allows the BIOS I/O instruction set to use the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions, hardware instructions which allow the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions to interact with the interface adapter to perform I/O operations to the RAID storage media, initialization code which when executed initializes the interface adapter and validates an operative status of the storage devices. Thereafter the initialization code is deleted from the system memory after the interface adapter has been initialized and the operative status of the storage devices has been validated.
The present invention also relates to a method of directly establishing and executing OS I/O instructions with a RAID storage media in an OS of a computer system which includes a nonvolatile memory and a BIOS recorded in the nonvolatile memory. The method includes recording RAID I/O algorithmic instructions in the nonvolatile memory for use by the OS in performing OS I/O operations on the RAID storage media, reading the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions from the nonvolatile memory for use by the OS while executing the BIOS during booting, and using the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions at least initially to execute OS I/O operations after the OS has booted.
Further, the present invention relates to improvements in a computer system having a processor, a nonvolatile system memory and an interface adapter which are all connected to a system bus. The computer system further includes a plurality of independent storage devices in a RAID configuration connected to the interface adapter, and the interface adapter includes a nonvolatile option ROM memory. The system memory contains code defining a BIOS having a BIOS bus scan or hardware detect instruction set and a BIOS I/O instruction set. The OS is recorded in a RAID configuration on the RAID storage media. RAID I/O algorithmic instructions are recorded in the option ROM memory in a configuration which causes the BIOS hardware detect instruction set to read the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions from the option ROM memory and record the RAID I/O algorithmic instructions in the system memory. The RAID I/O algorithmic instructions execute in conjunction with the BIOS I/O instruction set to read the OS recorded on the RAID storage media during booting of the OS.